Let’s face it Lee is not going anywhere. They are going to let him go after the season and hopefully go after someone in Free agency if he’s not traded. Aramis Ramirez is not going to opt of his contract since he won’t get the money he wants in F/A. Fukudome is staying until the off-season starts cause no one wants a back-up outfielder right now. So Ted Lilly or Tom Gorzelanny are the Cubs most likely to go at the deadline.

Why would any player not waive his no-trade clause to go play for a contender for the last weeks of his contract? I mean, it seems like everyone wants to play for the Cubs… but why wouldn’t you want to play for a winner?

Very often, you see players posturing about not wanting to waive their NTC’s. Sometimes it’s a stance taken to get the new club to pick up an option, buy out the NTC, or some other perk. Doesn’t seem to be the case here.

The Cubbies can still offer arbitration to Lee and take the comp picks. I don’t think he’d accept. Even if he did, there’s not a no trade clause in his arbitrated contract after June 15. Slightly risky, but worth it, IMO.

Lee has a young daughter in school in the Chicago area – she also has sight issues (originally thought to be a rare debilitating disease – but later prognosis improved) – I doubt very much he wants to spend 3 months away from his children.

Shouldn’t his age, performance, and salary serve as a no-trade clause? He’s almost 35, he’s got money coming to him this year, you can’t offer him arbitration, and his numbers don’t indicate a bounceback waiting to happen. They indicate a finished player.

Actually, Lee has been hitting lately. He’s hitting .300 over the last month. The power still isn’t where you’d like it but he doesn’t appear to be washed up just yet. The start of the year really dragged down his numbers but he’s been descent lately. Maybe not descent enough to get much for him by the deadline but still, he’s no Lyle Overbay or even Richie Sexson, he can still hit a little.

Here’s what we know for sure: first basemen aren’t in huge demand, Lee’s having a lousy season, and he has a hefty $4.95MM left on his contract.
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Well if the laws of supply and demand I learned in Economics 101 are true, this means that, theoretically, Lee can be had on the cheap by the Rangers…maybe the Cubs move him for a solid (not elite) prospect and eat enough $$$ for MLB to sanction the deal.

Of course that all depends if Lee would be willing to leave the Cubs sinking ship for a playoff contender.

He wouldn’t be a huge downgrade defensively either for Davis…though carrying two 1B kind of ruins any shot at having position flexibility. Davis could still play some 3B, but I’m not sure if that is the best idea in a pennant race.

Who’s been as done looking as Lee, gone to Texas, and suddenly gotten good? Vlad put up a 106 OPS+ last year, hitting for average and decent power, and has mostly benefited from being healthier (he has a noticeable home/road split, but he’s actually pretty good on the road). Lee is perfectly healthy. A ballpark can’t give you back the bat speed that time has taken away.

Davis is more likely to do better the rest of the way than Lee is. Lee’s put up a .654 OPS away from Wrigley. Even if that’s an improvement (which is sad), you should aim for better, and you certainly shouldn’t trade a solid prospect for that. I’d rather give the Astros a sack of baseballs for Chris Shelton than trade anything of value for Lee.

It is the same situation in which we got Bengie Molina. His value isn’t ONLY tied to his offensive production. There is something to be said for veterans in a playoff race. And he is a solid defender. What we have right now isn’t cutting it. If we want the Cubs to eat salary (which we have to, by the way) we have to give at least a solid prospect for him

Bengie Molina has been terrible and the Rangers overpaid for him. And what’s the value of a veteran if he isn’t any good? If it’s experience and intangibles, don’t you have Young, Guerrero, and Molina for that?

YOUR team? You don’t own it, coach it, or run it. Other veteran catchers have switched teams mid-season, handled new pitchers just fine, and not struggled with the bat. Appealing to your own non-existent authority isn’t an argument.

Again, look what Lee has done over the last month. .313/.368/.438/.805. Not killer numbers but I would say that shows signs of life with the bat. The power is missing but the .obp is nice. Looking at his overall numbers don’t tell the story of how he’s playing lately.

Are you accusing him of being less than 100% motivated in Chicago? Doesn’t sound like a good veteran influence to me. And everyone who said he was done last year was responding to a first half that was lower than his norm, as opposed to this year, which has been outright bad.

Lineup protection has been shown to almost entirely be a myth. It also doesn’t explain why mostly the same protection has failed him so completely this year when last year he was fine. But you don’t seem like the kind of guy one can discuss sabermetrics with.

Defensive downgrade? Lee is a 3 time GG winner, with 5 errors in 91 games and a fielding percentage of .994 this year. Don’t get me wrong Davis is a good at defense, but Lee would be a downgrade? I don’t think so.

aap212: “numbers…indicate a finished player” and “hasn’t shown any signs of life with the bat” indicate that you haven’t tapped three keys to check your own arguments. Lazy. Lee’s batting .423/.464 in the last 7 days, .386//413 in the last 15.

I accidentally push the like button on posts that I dislike all the time. They should put the reply button on the left.

Hendry should be begging teams to take payroll off his hands. He is going to find himself in a position soon where he is trading away his cheap good players because he can’t afford their arbitration raises because overpaid veterans are eating up too much of his budget.

Remember when the Braves traded Kevin Millwood to the Phillies? It’ll be like that.